Page 40 of Mine Again
Romeo shakes his head. The gesture is small, but final.
The air changes. Even the sun seems to lose its warmth.
He looks at each of us before settling on Mamma.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he says, his tone serious. “But I bring news.”
Chapter Fourteen
Isabella
My heart slams against my ribs. I try to grip the butterfly pendant on my necklace, but of course, I’m no longer wearing it.
Romeo hesitates. His shoulders tense as if he’s bracing for impact.
No one moves.
He looks down, searching for the right words, then back up at Mamma.
“Your husband has been found dead.”
For a long moment, no one moves.
No one breathes.
What did Romeo say?
Father is dead?
It doesn’t compute.
Father always seemed invincible. At times, like a nightmare you couldn’t wake from. And now, just like that… he’s gone?
I stare at Romeo, waiting for him to take it back. To explain that he meant something else.
But he doesn’t.
He only stands there, his mouth set in a grim line, his hands loosebut steady at his sides.
I glance around. Mamma’s hand is still holding a towel, knuckles white. Mia stares forward, her mouth slightly open, as though the world’s logic has fractured. Ari’s eyes are wide, one hand gripping Sienna’s wrist. Sienna swallows hard, blinking like she’s trying to process it faster than her brain will allow. And Aunt Serafina? Her mouth is hanging open in shock.
Mamma is the first to find her voice.
“How?” she asks.
Romeo glances briefly at Ari and Sienna before answering.
“His house in Rome was attacked,” he says. “Everyone inside was found dead.”
Mia sucks in a sharp breath beside me. Sienna presses closer to Ari, her hand slipping into her sister’s without a word.
Romeo shifts his weight slightly, as if what he has to say next is worse. And it is.
“His body was…” He trails off, jaw tightening. He looks again at my younger sisters and shakes his head. “Never mind.”
The unspoken words ring louder than anything else.
He must have been tortured, his body mutilated for Romeo not to speak of it in front of Ari and Sienna.
